The recent spate of random sexual assaults against women across Toronto has shattered my strongly held belief that I can walk safely whenever and wherever I want.

I grew up in the GTA and have always enjoyed the freedom to walk alone throughout the city, even at night.

My mother often cautioned me against this practise but I ignored her warnings. Now I am starting to take heed of it. It’s unnerving because I feel that my footprint in the city is shrinking both literally and figuratively.

I am more inclined to drive instead of walking short distances, if alone, which not only takes away spontaneity but also denies me of a sense of connectedness.

Until recently, I would usually say hello or somehow acknowledge strangers on my walks, a practice I learned from my grandmother while living in the Jamaican countryside decades ago.

Now, I try to distance myself from strangers rather than somehow engaging with them. This feels awkward but seemingly necessary. Are my actions justified or simply paranoia?

Do the statistics support the heightened sense of vulnerability that many women across the city are felling?

According to Meaghan Gray, spokeswoman for Toronto Police Services: “Over the last five years we have seen an increase in the reports of sexual assault offences.”

This may reflect increased efforts by police to encourage Torontonians to report occurrences of unwanted sexual contact.

Despite the rash of recent crimes, between October 2011 and October 2012 the number of sexual assaults reported to the Toronto Police Services dropped from 1,497 to 1,353 incidents, representing a decrease of 9.6%.

So, why don’t I feel safer?

This week alone three assaults took place within 24 hours.

Monday morning, shortly after 10 a.m., two women were assaulted in their north Toronto home after a young man posing as a newspaper salesman forced his way into their house. On Wednesday, a suspect turned himself in to 12 Division and is facing 11 charges in connection with the sexual assault of these two women.

The other recent incident involved a young woman walking by an alley at Broadview and Mortimer in downtown Toronto was dragged at knifepoint by a stranger. Luckily, she managed to escape. The suspect in this case remains at large.

Less than one month ago women in the Christie Pitts area of the city breathed a sigh of relief after police announced the arrest of a 15-year-old male. The culprit who began his alleged mid-town nocturnal groping spree in August was arrested in late October and charged with14 counts of sexual assaults and two counts of criminal harassment.

So, what constitutes sexual assault exactly?

According to Constable Tony Vella from the TPS it is an “unwanted touch with sexual overtone to the far extreme of intercourse.”

Gray further clarified that sexual assaults capture five offences — sexual assault, sexual assault with a weapon and aggravated sexual assault, sexual exploitation and sexual touching. The last two are only applicable when a child is involved.

If you wondered why police no longer use the term “rape,” the answer dates back to 1983 when it was repealed from the Criminal Code and replaced with “sexual assault.”

In spite of all of this, my love for the city has not changed. But my personal sense of liberty has diminished — something, I hope, changes.

Like the majority of her classmates who graduated
from a private Mississauga college in the Accounting
and Payroll Administration program — at taxpayers’
expense — Jazz could not find relevant work after
completing the full-time, one year program.